The New Hybrids
by faxforever5678
Summary: The School has kidnapped two more teenagers to be tested on, only to become the most powerful hybrids. But if they break out, what will happen to them? Can they join forces with the flock? Read to find out! (no FAX) Rated T for swearing! Sorry I'm really bad at summaries this is my first fanfic!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Isabella**

My name is Isabella, and I am thirteen years old. The first thing you must know about me: I am not normal.

True, until about two months ago, I totally was. My parents didn't give a crap about me, and I only had this one friend, Zee. I won't lie: Zee is a total loser. It's okay for me to tell you that, though, because that's how she usually refers to herself: loser, nerd, totally lame and no-life what. So. Ever. I guess it's her way of coping with the fact that that's what everybody else says about her.

Anyway, she's okay with it, and I've sort of come to terms with the fact that her aunt doesn't give a crap about her. That's why we're friends: we have almost the same problems. I mean, she's an orphan, and her aunt is an alcoholic, so it's a bit different. Still, it's not like either of us has a freaking life, so, you know, it's just us two geeks who nobody gives a crap about except us.

That was just a bit of background on us. And you're probably thinking, "People don't give a crap about you two. Big whoop, Isabella. Now what is the reason I picked up this stupid book, anyway?" Well, that's a very good question. I kind of got ahead of myself, actually. But the purpose of this prologue is to tell you this: we thought we were freaks. The truth, as it happens to be, is that before the field trip, neither of us had any idea what the real, brutal definition of 'freak' was. So let's go back to the day it all began…

**Isabella POV**

"Mom, I feel sick," I groaned from bed. "I don't think I can go on the field trip today."

My mom shook her head. "You and your silly antics. You are going on the field trip, Isabella. I paid good money for that."

Technically, she'd only paid ten bucks, which was a fraction of what my ticket to the aquarium cost. And technically, I did feel sick. I had a headache so big, normal headaches would scream and run away.

"Mom," I protested. "My brain just, like, blew up or something." My mother tossed me a bottle of Tylenol, and the message was clear: go on the field trip or go to your funeral. Almost against my better judgment, I picked the aquarium.

What a mistake.

"—and you know what? You're so stupid, that—" the girl was saying. She and a bunch of others were gathered around Zee, trying to see who could be the first to wipe that forever bored expression from her face.

"If I were stupid," Zee cut in, "I wouldn't be reading a book right now." She'd barely glanced up. "Furthermore, if I were stupid, then I would've been at Chase's party last weekend, committing suicide via underage drinking. All I'm saying is that you're a hypocrite. Nothing personal. Besides, it's true."

The girl's face turned red, and she and her gang shuffled away. Before they were even halfway across the room, I walked up to them and yelled, "YOUR FACE!" right in their faces. Then I walked away, cackling maniacally as they gave me strange looks.

Zee finally looked up. "Did you bring that new manga?"

"No," I said sheepishly. I felt bad. I brushed my side bangs away from my face in disappointment. We'd both been counting on it to pass the day by. As always, my memory had just shoved it to the back of my brain, leaving it in the section, 'Important things completely forgotten about". Now we had to count on our forever lost thoughts. Ooh boy, this day would probably just go on and on.

She got up from the desk, slamming her book closed, and punched me in the arm. "You suck!" she screamed. And then we both burst into laughter.

"Girls," Mrs. DiVitro called from her desk, faking sugar-sweetness. "Care to be quiet?"

We both nodded obediently, but when Mrs. DiVitro turned back to her pile of permission slips, I whispered, "Care to be a butthole?" I picked up Zee's book to cover our faces, but then we started giggling.

"Okay everyone," Mrs. DiVitro called, "line up with your chaperones!" Zee and I walked over and stood next to one of the glamorous moms of one of the popular girls. See, that was exactly the reason I had a headache that morning: dwelling on having to spend a day with those girls, because some genius—our homeroom teacher, Mrs. DiVitro, to be precise—put us all in one group, for more than six hours. That woman is insane, I tell you, insane with a capital I-N-S-A-N-E. She probably feeds on our dead souls.

The bus ride was torture. As some boy in a polo shirt kept poking me in the shoulder, I made an attempt to talk to Zee. "So, how's your aunt doing?"

Zee pursed her lips. "Not good. She's still in the hospital. Social security is still taking care of me. I hate it." I was actually concerned. I knew that, to some extent, Zee did care somewhat about her aunt. Besides, her aunt was actually her great-aunt, and legal guardian. She was old, and in poor condition from years of drinking excessively. If she died, first of all, Zee would be totally depressed. Second of all, social security would relocate her. Heaven knows we couldn't have that. I was her only friend.

Finally, the eternity-long bus ride was over, and we were all ushered into the aquarium with the rest of the eighth grade, while the teachers shouted, "Stick with your groups!"

Zee assessed everything with dubious dark green eyes. "There are no outdoor exhibits!" She stomped her foot in frustration like a five-year-old. "This is just going to be a bunch of lit-up tanks in dark hallways, isn't it? Isn't it?!" she demanded.

"That's what we get for having our field trip in the middle of freaking January," I muttered. "This sucks."

"Suck it up, Isabella," sang one of the girls in my group. She was smirking. "Only six more hours to go-o!" I wished that I'd made myself vomit earlier, because that was better than barfing in front of the entire student body while I listened to the latest gossip.

We started walking through the dull rows of tanks as soon as we were inside, shielded from the late winter chill. The fish looked kind of dead to me. I mean, their eyes were lifeless, and they were so fat that they just kinda sat at the bottom, their bellies to the artificial rocks. It was like their girlfriends broke up with them, and they started eating too much ice cream and got overweight and depressed.

Finally, we got to something interesting. The tank was smaller, but then, so were the fish. They were minnows, actually, darting around so fast, and not once touching each other. It looked like an artist had painted a realistic cylinder fish tank, with rocks and everything, but just left the fish as little neon streaks interrupting the neutral browns and dark forest greens. It was a picture I definitely would've spent hundreds of dollars on.

I brushed my fingers against the glass, and my long brown hair stuck to it also. "They're so pretty," I marveled. I could have stared at the little fishes all day.

But Zee suddenly snapped me out of it. "Belle—Belle! Our group is gone."

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I forgot to say this before, but I don't own Maximum Ride. This was a story I wrote like 4 months ago, so I decided, 'Hey what the heck' and put it on here :D**

**On with the story!**

**Zee POV  
**

Isabella blinked at me, as if she was just coming out of a trance—I think she was, actually. "What?" she asked dazedly.

I shook her shoulders, hard. "What do you think, stupid? Our group left us here, on purpose, so we'd get in trouble for wandering away in a public place on a field trip. We've got to go find them before somebody sees us alone. Mrs. DiVitro will never let it go." That was a fact. She seemed to take everything down, from boys just subtly glancing at each other from girls picking up each other's pencils off the floor. Everything anyone did, when fit in to her version of reality, was somehow off.

The mention of Mrs. DiVitro's name seemed to snap Isabella out of her haze. "Oh, right. Let's check down this hall. I haven't been spacing out for that long. They couldn't have gotten far."

Before we'd even sprinted the length of the hall, it became plain that we'd chosen the wrong hall to run down. I sighed, exasperated. "That took way too long. They're probably halfway across the aquarium by now." I pressed my back against the cool glass of the million gallon fish tank, sighing and wishing I could shrink to the size of an atom and never get big again.

"Look." Isabella tapped her watch. "It's almost twelve thirty. That's when the teachers said we were all meeting at the food court for lunch. We'll be able to sneak in, easy. Plus, I saw a sign pointing toward it when we came in. It can't be too far." Relief flooded through me. For the millionth time since we'd been friends, it was Isabella to the rescue.

We were just passing the reptile exhibit when I noticed something odd—a tall man in a black suit, standing around a corner. He was wearing an earpiece, tapping it as if he were getting a message. The guy had this huge scar across his eye. He noticed me staring at him, and gave me a grin, as if to say, I know something you don't, kid. It was evil, and beyond scary.

I tugged the edge of Isabella's sleeve and nodded discreetly toward the guy. "What do you think?" I murmured.

"I think he's some sort of a creeper or a pedophile, and we've got to go find someone, now," Isabella whispered urgently. "I don't care who, and I don't care if we get in trouble. Let's just get the hell out of here."

For once, I could not agree more. We started walking a bit faster, and soon the guy was way behind us. We were now in a dark hall, illuminated only by an EXIT sign and a dim glow from the tanks that walled us in. "We're totally lost," I announced. "And we're late for lunch."

"Really? I had no freaking idea!" Isabella exploded sarcastically. She looked about ready to punch a hole in one of the tanks and drown us. "We will get in so much trouble. This sucks."

My stomach growled. This situation really did suck. Really, I couldn't think of anything that could be suckier, not even the eternal ride back to school. I suddenly wished that I'd skipped school, just so I could be with my aunt. She wasn't doing well, and besides, I'd have rather spent my day with her than at this stupid, impossible to navigate aquarium. I covered my face with my hands. "No kidding," I muttered, my words muffled.

Isabella poked me in the shoulder. "Um, Zee?" Her nervousness was obvious, and it was the only thing that made me uncover my face and think, 'Holy freaking crap!'

There were about ten versions of the first guy in a black suit I'd seen, including the original creeper himself. Except now, they weren't exactly men. They were sprouting ridiculous amounts of hair, so it was more like, well, fur. They were getting bigger, so big that they ripped through their shirts. Among the coarse fur on their heads, there were pointy ears, and snouts. It was almost like they were… like…

I couldn't even force the word out into my open thoughts, so I was almost grateful when Isabella said the word: "Werewolves." It wasn't a question—it was a statement, as if she didn't doubt it for a second.

One of the wolves stepped closer, cackling. "You humans and your silly fairy tales. Believe what you want. It's not even important." He bared his extremely long, sharp teeth.

In turn, I bared my normal, pretty small in comparison human teeth, balling my fists. "What exactly do you want with us, Dog Boy?" My voice came out more confident than I'd hoped, which was great. It was like, 'Oh, okay, werewolves. I ain't afraid!'

He narrowed his beady eyes at me. "You'll have to take that up with our bosses… when we get to California."

"Kidnappers," Isabella muttered. "Zee, I don't know about you, but I am itching to unleash my black belt in karate right now." Intimidation: the first step in winning a fight. Isabella was actually just a brown belt, but she was trying for a black belt. Meanwhile, I was trying for one in jiu-jitsu. We weren't exactly the best two girls to mess with, even by the standards of werewolves. And believe you me; I was determined to never get to California.

**Chapter 3: Isabella**

I'd never fought a werewolf before, but I was able to figure a few things out. For one, they weren't fully wolves—they were always about fifty percent human, so some of the simple physics of people must still apply to them. So when the first one decidedly got highly annoyed with Zee and I, the first thing I did was make him lose his balance by kicking the back of his knees. I knew from experience that when that happens, it's an impulse to bend your knees. That was exactly what happened.

When he dropped to his knees, I drove my elbow into the back of his neck, really hard. He seemed a bit fazed, but not quite. He got back to his feet in no time, and then another werewolf grabbed me from behind.

It may have been hopeless—I knew that it definitely felt that way—but I kicked and thrashed and screamed with all my heart anyway. Even though it was hard to kick, thrash and scream in skinny jeans, I pushed right through it. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a howl of pain, but an actual howl. Then I heard a scream. "Zee!" I yelled.

"I broke his arm!" she responded. "Ow." The 'ow' was sort of a mutter, so I could tell it wasn't directed at me. That stupid mutt hurt my best friend. A WEREWOLF MAIMED MY FRIEND!

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, giving me sort of a surge of energy. I'd never actually experienced this sort of thing, and I loved it.

I bent my legs and pushed off from the wolf, rolling twice on the ground, and then landing in a crouch. Zee was next to me in a flash. Her cut was minor, just a shallow claw mark across her bicep, but I knew that sometimes, those kinds of wounds stung the most.

"Stick together," she said under her breath. "It's our best chance." While I kind of thought that splitting up would help us cover more of the werewolves, this was not the time to argue. There would definitely be more where all that came from… wherever in California that was.

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Holy crap people I didn't expect to get 2 reviews already! You guys are awesome :3 Please continue to give me more encouraging notes for another chapter!  
**

**I do not own Maximum Ride (i wish i did 0.0)**

**READ ON!**

**Zee POV**

The werewolf men seemed to just multiply in a matter of seconds. I thrashed my fists at everyone I saw, but I never managed to cause any damage to them. Only a few feet from me, Isabella screamed. I fought my way through to her, and saw that she was squatting on the ground, breathing heavily. "What happened?!" I managed in a shaken voice.

"They—really—got me." Her voice sounded thick and was hard to make out. She showed me the wound that she had been covering with her arm on her stomach.

I almost puked the Nile River.

It was a HUGE gash right on her stomach with blood flooding all over the floor. All of the skin was just ripped off. This made me mad.

Really mad.

"OKAY, WHO THE HELL DID THIS?!" I screamed at the very top of my lungs. Of course, I didn't wait for an answer. While Isabella was laid out on the floor, I went absolutely berserk. Screaming, punching, breaking bones, everything. But it was all for nothing.

The werewolf men staggered to their feet, and more came through the exit door. They simply grabbed both of us by the arm, and ignored our thrashing around. Well, it was only me thrashing around because I assumed Isabella was unconscious. They took both of us, and I just gave up and laid limp as they dragged us down the hallway. Whatever they were going to do with us, I would just have to find out.

**Isabella POV**

The only thing I remember is being dragged on the floor of the dark hallway. Then I think I sort of blacked out.

I slowly began to wake, with the sound of Zee screaming my name. "Wha—what happened?" I muttered. "Oh my gosh, I can't see! Am I blind?!" I scrambled around until I felt pain in my chest and quickly stopped.

"I don't think you're blind, because we are in the back of a dark van." I could make out Zee's face, looking at me with concern.

"What do they want with us?" I whispered softly. I was feeling the sensation of pure fear, and if any of you have ever felt that before, you know it's pretty dang terrifying. Not to mention my stomach was swelling around my harsh wound.

"I—I don't know, Isabella." I heard the fear in her voice also. "We just have to wait and see." Right then the truck hit what I thought was a speed bump, and Zee and I went flying in the air. We both screamed, and when we hit the ground, the vibration went right through me. It felt like my gash had exploded. It hurt so bad, I couldn't make any noise. Just sounds like "oof," and "owwww."

Once the pain went away, I realized how funny those sounds were and started laughing at how constipated I must have sounded. Zee looked at me, confused, but then found what I was laughing at and giggled with me. Might as well make the most of these moments, because they never last forever… especially when you've been kidnapped.

* * *

The ride must have been at least four days. It makes sense, though; from New York to California is a pretty long drive. Zee and I slept a lot, and eventually my wound had healed to the point where you could no longer see my insides but the skin hadn't fully covered my stomach.

The werewolves—men—whatever they were—would stop about three times a day to give us bottled water and old food. Every time, Zee told them, "You. Really. Suck. Balls." And then every time, that same one would grab her by the shirt collar and smack her across the face. But when they left, she'd just cackle maniacally and eat whatever they'd left for us, as if being hit in the same place once every four hours didn't even hurt. But I was like, 'Dude. Not. Cool.'

At last we made it to—well, wherever we were supposed to go. I was almost relieved. The suspense had been freaking killing me. But then my relief was replaced with rage, for as soon as those stupid mutts opened the back of the van, needles were stuck in me and Zee's arms. Once again: Not. Cool.

**Zee POV**

I woke up to the sound of beeping monitors. "Aw crap, are we in the hospital, Belle?" I turned to her, eyes fluttering open sleepily.

"Five more minutes, mother." She turned her head to the side, not facing me anymore.

"Classic, Bella. Just classic." I sighed and looked around. The room was all white, and I had wires sticking in and out of me. EW. We both sat in what looked like hospital beds, but we had leather straps to keep us down.

"Isabella, GET UP!" I screamed at her. I did this to see how she would react, and begin giggling.

"QUIT IT MOM I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR COMPLAINING!" she screamed, and I squealed out in laughter. "Oh, it's you, Zee. That must have sounded really weird and WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE?" She panicked and thrashed around in her bed.

"CALM DOWN! Honestly, Bella, you need to think more. If they wanted us dead, they would've killed us by now," I said. Ha, me and my logic. But I noticed something I didn't notice before.

A man.

He'd probably been in the room the whole time; I guess I just never noticed him. He began to mutter to himself: "We can't forget to add the special mutation—maybe we can add Angel's mutations—oh, aha!" This dude was going crazy. His hair was everywhere, making him look like he hadn't slept for days. I really didn't think he had.

He was constantly muttering to himself, and we both had no idea what about. His glasses were falling off his face, and I think he forgot to shave for a long time because he had a really long mustache.

"Hello over there!" I called over to him. I'm pretty sure it was a bad idea, but then again, I am chock-full of bad ideas, like not skipping school.

"AHA!" He scrambled over to us, dropping paper and notebooks on the floor. "Oh, sorry." He took a moment to clear his throat. "I am Jeb Batchelder, and I will be preforming your surgery tomorrow."

"Wait a minute. SURGERY?! I'll have you know, my aunt used to be a lawyer and—"

Jeb interrupted me and, quick and heartless, dropped the bomb on me: "Mackenzie, your aunt is dead."

I lashed out at him. "What are you talking about, and how do you know my name?! My aunt is NOT, I repeat: IS. NOT. DEAD. She can't be. She was just sitting up and speaking the other day." I could remember that, the day before the field trip. It was the first time she was sober enough to tell me that she loved me.

"Mackenzie, that was almost a week ago. Things change. Look at this." He held out a newspaper article from my town, The Weekly News. The heading was, 'Local Woman Died of Alcohol Abuse,' and there was a picture of my aunt, in that spiteful hospital bed, on the verge of death. And now she was dead.

"How did she die?! You tell me right now! HOW?!" I screamed directly in his face, biting back tears.

"She just—died. Her heart gave out while she was in the hospital." He almost looked… sad. "I'm… I'm sorry, Mackenzie." The apology felt forced, fake, like it was something he had to say.

"That's not important anymore," I said through gritted teeth. Truth be told, it really was important to me, but I was just trying to act strong, the way Auntie always thought I was. "The real question here: how do you know my name?" I sternly stared into his dark eyes.

"Oh, we've been studying the both of you for quite a while now. Actually, your entire lives. We thought that you'd make the perfect new models." He finished and backed away, going back to his paperwork—which was still on the floor.

"Models… for what?" Isabella suddenly spoke up.

"You'll find out soon enough." For the first time, he was speaking directly at the both of us. "Now sleep, kids. You have a long day tomorrow."

As if by magic—or drugs in our IV lines—we passed out instantly.

**Me: REVIEWS PLEEEASE**

**Isabella: Why do you need reviews anyway?**

**Me: I need to make sure people like my story :l**

**Isabella: Uh huh...**

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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Hello again internet people! I have another chapter for you, and if I get another review, maybe I'll post another one (hint hint). **

**I do not own Maximum Ride!**

**READ ON!**

**Chapter 7: Isabella**

"Rise and shine girls! It's time for surgery!" Jeb called from the hallway. I groaned, like I usually do when I wake up.

"Ugh what time is it? Man, you guys should really put some windows in here," I complained. He responded with a cheerful, 5:00. In the morning. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR EVER-LOVING MIND?!" I screamed, my full 'you woke me up too early now I will eat you like a dragon' voice booming through the room. **(A/N I have that voice)**

"You absolutely do not want to wake Isabella up early. I learned that the hard way, Jeb," Zee said. Jeb should've really taken her word for it. Zee had, like, a master's degree on don't-you-freaking-dare-wake-Bella-up-ology.

"Lack of sleep isn't your biggest problem. You guys will be blacked out the whole time anyway," Jeb responded. I was still huffing and puffing like that wolf that blew the pigs' houses down and ate them. Wait—I don't think he ate them… Okay, never mind, off topic.

"Wait, what are you going to do with us?!" Zee screeched. I can't believe it never occurred to me to ask that simple question. It's from Kidnap Victims for Dummies, I believe. Now that I think of it, we were completely calm this whole time. Weird, huh? Maybe it's just because Jeb wasn't completely hostile.

"Let's just say this, girls: Have you ever wanted to fly?"

"Yeah," we spontaneously answered. Zee sounded unsure, like she really wasn't sure if she should've answered that question.

"Well, then here's your lucky chance." And we blacked out again. Wow, the magic of drugging children.

I woke to a throbbing pain on my back, still on the same bed, in the same room. "Jeez," I muttered. "Hey, Zee. Zee. ZEEEEEE!" I loved annoying her like that. It was quite funny.

"WHAT?!" She turned towards me, hostile annoyance dripping from her words.

"I don't know, I'm bored," I answered dully.

"We were kidnapped, and you are having trouble being entertained?!" She did a face-palm.

"Yes. That is exactly it," I stated, and burst out laughing. "I have no idea why we're laughing, we're being held captive," I stammered, and kept laughing.

Jeb came bursting into the room. "Is there anyone else in this place besides you? I mean I'm getting tired of seeing one guy's face." I smirked.

"Not now, Isabella. I have to tell you girls everything, about you will be experiencing from here on in." He took a chair and sat in front of us with a serious face.

"Aw, symptoms better not be diarrhea. I've had a horrible past with that stuff," I kept joking to myself. Still, I think it was the miracle of drugging children that made me so insanely funny and immature.

"Not now, Isabella. Girls, seriously, you are the most annoying kids I've seen since…" His voice faltered, and a pained expression crossed his face.

Conveniently for him, somebody in the distance yelled, "Batchelder!" and he jumped up, leaving us wondering who exactly had been so annoying.

**Chapter 8: Zee**

I sprung up out of sleep, my heart pounding like I'd just seen a ghost. A nightmare? Maybe. I wasn't sure.

"You finally awake?" Isabella muttered over to me. She looked calm, and was reading—a book?

"Where'd you get that book?" I put a confused face on.

"Jeb gave it to me," she responded, turning the page.

"Since when are kidnappers so nice?" I asked myself and turned to lie on my back. A wire injected inside me poked at my side, so I twisted myself back over again. Then, as always, Jeb came bursting through the door.

"Alright girls, time to move to the next lab!" He rubbed his hands together at looked at us.

Our only responses were, "Wha?"

This is when the bad part came in.

Werewolf dudes came in and dragged our beds all the way to 'the next lab', which was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the hall, and left us there for a good four hours. The place was really dark, and both Isabella and I were starting to get really scared. Like, about to explode with anxiety scared. Jeb came back later though, and man did he have something to say to us.

"I'm sorry, girls, but you have to stay… for a very, very long time. I just could have made recombinant DNA history, so I need to run tests. Many tests. With other scientists. So if you could just—" He didn't even get to finish his sentence. Two werewolves grabbed us by the arms, took all the wires off of us, and dragged us out of the room and down a hallway. Finally, we were in a new room. It was completely concrete, with no windows whatsoever. I totally flipped out when I saw what was before us.

"Dog cages?!" I screamed. "I ain't an animal, Jeb!" I stared at the silver mesh of metal wires, but before I could even physically react to all this, one of the werewolves shoved me into a cage roughly, clicking a padlock together as I tumbled into the bars of the cage.

"We need to keep you safe and secure," Jeb said, dismissive. Before I could further express my rage, that bipolar scumbag turned on his heel and walked out of the room, the werewolves trailing behind him.

"Hey Belle?" She looked over at me from behind two layers of bars. "You know those lizards and things that we saw at the aquarium? Well, I'm starting to feel some deep empathy for them. Cages suck." She nodded in agreement.

And then, with no prior warning, a sharp pain shot up my spine.

**Chapter 9: Isabella**

Both Zee and I were crumpled heaps in our cages, bent over and sobbing. I was clutching my head and screaming, thinking only three words over and over and over: MAKEITSTOP MAKEITSTOP MAKEITSTOP! It didn't, for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, we both recovered. Zee was sitting up in her cage, breathing heavily, her blond pixie cut disheveled. Her face was red and streaked with tears. Finally, she said shakily, "Jeb… Jeb did say something about… side effects."

"Yeah…" I said uncertainly. "Hey, speaking of which, what do you think he meant when he asked us if we ever dreamt of flying?"

Zee leaned back against the bars of her cage, thinking. Then she noticed something right next to her foot: a feather. A sky blue feather had somehow worked its way into her cage. Something seemed to dawn on her. "Isabella… I think we have…" She managed to choke out the last word. "Wings."

I felt like I might pass out. "Wings?"

"Yep." She reached a hand up the back of her shirt, and her eyes widened. "I felt feathers, Belle."

"Oh my freaking God." I swallowed hard. "Check me." I turned around, my back inches from the bars. Tentatively, Zee lifted up the back of my shirt about halfway.

"Yours are white, Bella. No, actually, they're silver," she gasped. "You have silver wings." She let go of my shirt and turned around herself. "Check my wings."

I was just as hesitant as Zee had been with me. I had to force myself to take her shirttail and lift it up. Then I gasped. There, perfectly grafted to her back and folded in neatly, were Zee's wings.

"Well?" Zee asked impatiently. Obviously, the anticipation was killing her as much as it had been killing me.

Before I could say anything, I had to swallow hard to get the lump out of my throat. "They're blue. Like, at the top, they're the kind of blue that electricity is. Then it sort of fades in color. The, um, feathers at the bottom are white."

She turned back around to face me, forcing the back of her shirt out of my grasp. "This is awesome. We can, like, fly now, Bella. Think about it! WE CAN SOAR THROUGH THE SKYYYYYY!" she sang.

"I don't know, Zee. I don't think I can even unfold my wings. They must be too weak…" I mused.

I didn't have time to further contemplate it, though, because just then, the door to the room flew open. A woman in a white coat walked in, with five werewolves at her heels. "Your presence has been requested in lab five," said the woman, completely toneless. I scowled at the way she said 'requested', as if we actually had a choice. I mean, if you're going to use a meaningless word like that, at least use it right!

Our cages were opened, and two werewolves roughly pulled us out. Now there were freaking claw marks in my sleeve. I wanted those idiots to pay soooooooooo freaking badly. But I knew if I did, I'd have to pay way more dearly than the wolves, and that just wasn't worth it.

It was a lot of walking. Like, we had to walk up a flight of stairs, and I swear we went around in a circle before we got where Zee and I had been 'requested'. The woman opened the door, and standing just a few feet away was none other than Jeb freaking Batchelder.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the chapter you've been waiting for!**

**I do not own any Maximum Ride!**

**Zee POV**

Isabella and I were ushered into the room, and then separated. Isabella protested, but I didn't. There were still werewolves posted around the room. Frankly, I would've rather not died. After all, I still stood a chance of escaping.

Jeb went with me. "We're doing intellectual tests first. Do you consider yourself good at solving puzzles?"

"Hell yeah," I answered.

"Good. If you can solve puzzles, you can solve life." I had no freaking idea what he meant by that, but I didn't care. All I could think: there's a catch. It can't be as easy as solving a stupid puzzle. It was never that simple.

Jeb led me over to a large computer and sat me down. Somebody else started hooking up electrodes to me, which, for obvious reasons, made me feel uncomfortable. "This is really simple. All you have to do is answer each question in sixty seconds."

"Yeah, mm-hmm. But what happens if I don't?" I asked snarkily.

"Then they're going to shock you."

My grip tightened around the arm of the chair. "I could see a million ways that this could backfire. For example, if I freaking passed out. After all, I am not very tolerant to being shocked." Indeed I wasn't. Once, when I was four, I was inside, and lightning struck outside the window. I actually fell over and blacked out for five whole seconds. And I wasn't even struck by the lightning!

Jeb smiled thinly at me. "You know, I think you'll manage."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I muttered, cracking my knuckles. I wasn't sure what to expect, but whatever the hell it was, I was determined not to get shocked. There's only so much trauma a girl can go through in one day.

The questions popped up on the screen, and I went through them easily. They were all pretty different, though. A few were brain teasers (nothing I'd never seen before, though). There were a few patterns, and only one literal puzzle. I did not get shocked once.

That is, until I heard the scream. It was a scream I recognized—it belonged to Isabella.

I twisted myself around. "BELLA!" I yelled. This, I was not okay with to any extent. How dare they hurt my best friend!

A shock ran through my body through the electrodes, making me hold back a scream of my own. "Keep working!" somebody yelled angrily at me.

Yes, I knew that I was being stupid and impulsive, but that was the last straw. There were no more straws to pick from. My freaking box of straws was empty! So I crossed my arms stubbornly. "No," I said firmly.

Murmurs erupted from the crowd of scientists behind me. Jeb came forward, kneeling next to me. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Peaceful rebellion," I explained patiently. "I. Am. Gandhi!" Another shock emitted itself into me, but I forced myself not to feel it. All I did was grip the arms of the chair and grit my teeth.

A few new shocks came through, and my reaction did not differ. Then, it stopped. There was angry chatter behind me. Meanwhile, I was in a state of triumph. I'd won, and they knew it. I'll bet I was a real challenge for them. Yay me for being an un-budgable brick wall!

Finally, somebody came forward and started yanking the electrodes off. Then he grabbed my arm and hauled me through a door in the back of the room. Isabella was already there.

The guy shoved me onto the floor rather abruptly. "Obviously, the civil attempt is not working," he started.

"Pardon me for asking, but what about that was civil?" demanded Bella.

He ignored her. "The only thing you two will respond to is something both physically and mentally challenging, with a touch of violence." Then I finally noticed: there was a huge maze in front of us. No, he couldn't mean…

"That's why we are making you go through this maze," he continued, "and letting the Erasers in to chase you." The werewolf men—Erasers, apparently—stepped forward, baring their fangs in cruel grins. "You have a ten second head start, starting… now!"

Gasping, I jumped to my feet and dragged Bella through the entrance of the maze. "What's the plan?" she asked. "How do we avoid the… Erasers?"

I shrugged. "It's like a math test: I'll wing it." I hung a left, and then started running down a seemingly endless hall.

We were silent from then on, only yelling out directions to each other on occasion. The maze was impossibly big—I was comparing it to the Labyrinth, and so far, in terms of size, this stupid maze was winning. In terms of horrible monsters that want to eat you, it was still winning. Those Eraser things could've beaten the Minotaur any day.

"Zee, I'm starting to feel claustrophobic," Isabella whispered. "It feels like the walls are going to close in."

"Well I don't," I snapped back, "and I'm certifiably insane! I think we're okay." We turned another corner, and there was a freaking Eraser a few yards away. "Okay, now we're not," I whispered hoarsely. The Eraser spotted us and growled.

"RUN!" Isabella screamed. We ducked into the nearest opening, sprinting down the halls and not even thinking when we turned; just following each other.

I felt faster than I'd ever been. It was so weird. I knew that it must've had something to do with the genetic mutations that we got when we got our wings…

And of course, being me, that was exactly the kind of thing I'd be thinking about while running for my life. God, my short attention span was such a curse.

Quite suddenly, a crew of five Erasers appeared in front of Bella and me as we rounded a corner. We both screamed and backpedaled, only to run into more of them. They'd probably been right on our tail the entire time.

Really, for the first time in my life, I was purely terrified, thinking that OH MY GOD THEY ARE GOING TO KILL ME AND I ONLY HAVE TWO SECONDS TO LIVE! My fears were confirmed when one of them shot out an arm and grabbed me by the throat. I clawed at the huge, meaty hand, but it was no use. I didn't accept that I was dying, not by a longshot, but I did understand that I was dying. I mean, my air was cut off. My body was slowing down. It was obvious that I was a goner.

Suddenly, a sort of random doorway opened in the wall, and Jeb, of all freaking people, burst through, screaming at the Erasers. The one who was choking me let go, and I hit the ground with a thud. Air rushed into my lungs. Oh my god. I was alive! Well, totally immobile and unable to hear, but alive.

Jeb kept screaming in rage, but that was only half the drama going on. Isabella was crouching next to me, hugging me and, yes, crying. Because she was right next to me and almost yelling herself, I could make out what she was saying: "OHMYGODYOU'REALIVE! I THOUGHT HE'D KILL YOU AND OH MY GOOOOOODDDDD!"

Finally, the Erasers were moping through the new door, but Jeb wasn't following them. He knelt beside me, looking genuinely concerned. His face was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

**Isabella POV**

Zee was just starting to stir in her cage. I sighed in relief when she sat up. "Thank God! I thought you'd never wake up!"

"Jeez, what happened?" she muttered, holding her head in her hands.

"Well, that Eraser almost killed you," I said, "and then Jeb got all pissed at them. You know, I think he actually does care about us…"

"What makes you say that?" Zee asked around a yawn. She only really sounded mildly curious.

I started ticking things off my fingers. "Well, he got pissed at the other scientists when they were all like, 'So the kid almost died. Who flipping cares?' He comforted me while I was crying. He carried you all the way back here. Plus, Jeb stayed right next to you, all night, when he probably had tons of better things to do."

Zee looked surprised. "Well, if he did all of that, then why isn't he busting us out of here? I mean, I… I almost died. That's got to be the last straw."

"There's got to be a reason…" I mused. "Well, he did say that through us, he could make recombinant DNA history. That's a reason. It's stupid, but it's a reason." Zee nodded thoughtfully. Then she lay back down on the metal floor of her cage and started snoring, leaving me to my thoughts.

I looked over at her and, for the first time, noticed something highly significant. Where there had been dark purple bruises right where the Eraser had choked her, making a ring around her neck, there was now nothing. Nothing at all. It was as if she'd never been wounded in the first place.

A few hours later, when Zee had finally come around for good, Jeb came back. He exhaled in relief. "You're awake," he sighed, crouching at her eye level.

Zee blew her huge side bangs out of her face. "Um, no freaking duh, Sherlock."

Suppressing a smile, he addressed both of us. The mood turned serious. We both turned our mostly undivided attention to Jeb. "Look, girls, there's something incredibly important that I have to tell you. Nobody else knows, though, and it's imperative that you do not let them know. Ever." He was sounding so intense it was almost scary. I guess it was to get our full attention, though, because believe me—I was listening.

Jeb took such a long pause that I just had to blurt, "Well? Spit it out!"

He looked at me, annoyed, and took a deep breath. "Mackenzie, Isabella, the truth is… you're supposed to save the world.

**Mwahaha**

**What will happen next?**

****CLIFFY****


	6. Chapter 6

**SOOOOO sorry I haven't updated! I've been busy all week :( **

**To make it up I'm posting a super long chapter :D**

**I NO OWN MAXIMUM RIDE!**

**BEGIN!**

**Zee**

Aw crap. "You're kidding right? That, is too much to handle, right?" I gestured towards Isabella and she nodded.

"Just sleep on it, okay?" He gave us a stern look that almost made me want to crawl in a hole.

"Wait, it's night? Already? You know, you guys really need a clock in here, or a window. You can't tell time," Isabella said. This fact especially bothered me, because I'd always been a freak about knowing what time it was.

Jeb chuckled, saying he'd bring it up with the others, and walked out of the room. Isabella and I had nothing to say to each other about the whole thing, and basically just pushed the 'saving the world' thing back in the 'Important things completely forgotten about' box that Isabella always tells me about. We didn't consider the fact that tomorrow would hold more tests, and more complications. For now, sleep was the only thing on my mind.

The next day consisted of, well, tests. Wires, poking, prodding, more of the physical tests, et cetera. But along with physical tests came gym.

"Isabella, you know how much I hate gym," I complained as the scientists walked us to a different lab.

"I know, but maybe having wings and all, we've got SUPAH STRENGTH!" She put up her arms like Superman and laughed. The scientists shushed us as we walked in the room. It looked like a—school gym: rock wall, rope, lines on the wood polished floor, and even bleachers.

"Woooooah," I awed. "Wait, I hate gym!"

Isabella ignored me and walked straight in. She turned around and said, "Maybe they'll show us how to use our wings! We haven't even unfolded them yet." She turned back around, spun her head in the air, and laughed. Isabella liked gym, but wasn't a sports player. But man, was she a fast runner.

Jeb was in the corner writing notes with his fellow scientists. I followed Isabella in the middle as she turned to him and said, "What are we gonna do first?!" Her eyes were glittering like she was in an anime.

"Well, stamina comes first with push-ups, sit-ups, running—"

"RUNNING?! LET'S GO NOW!" She screamed, and jogged in place for a second. I just leaned down and tied the shoes that we'd only been given that morning.

"Well if you're so eager to start, we will begin with testing your stamina in running. Because we put genetic mutations of different human increases, all of these tests should prove that you are stronger than the average human male. You both will have your powers, and your weaknesses. Run 25 laps, then come back so we can check your heart beat," he instructed us.

I wasn't as pumped about this as Isabella was, but maybe this is one of her strengths and one of my weaknesses. Whatever it was, I sort of hated it. I took off running after Isabella as one of the scientists yelled at us, "START RUNNING!"

It felt like we were running at least ninety MPH, which was a huge improvement from my usual maybe twenty. Isabella was faster than I was, just as I predicted. Speed was her strength and my weakness. She looked like she was running maybe around 140 mph. We watched as it became harder and harder for the scientists to count our laps.

**Isabella**

I didn't even feel tired when Jeb called us for the fourth time over to check our heart rates. Scientist asked us questions like, "Are there any side effects?" And we'd answer, "Yes, we're really, really hungry." So they gave us food and water—which I totally hadn't been expecting, but was totally grateful for. I felt like eating a cow.

After we ate something, we had to do pushups and sit ups and crap like that. At school, Zee and I had both complained that we could only do about two sit ups and half a pushup. But here at the stupid lab place, we could each do more than fifty pushups—with no less than ten pound weights on our backs—and about two hundred sit ups. I am not even kidding.

We started rock climbing, and rope climbing, and for both of us was a snap. On the wall Zee leaned over and whispered, "They won't stop taking notes," and gestured over to the adults in the corner.

I answered, "Dude, its fine. Adults will be adults." I didn't have time to finish my statement, though. An electric shock shook my body as I plummeted fifteen feet down to the hard ground. The last thing I heard was Jeb and Zee's voice screaming for me as I fell, head first, onto the floor.

When I woke, I could barely see a thing. Then my eyes adjusted. I was in a hard chair in a dimly lit room. How inviting. I lifted my head to inspect the room further, but I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head and stopped moving.

Jeb was sitting below me, asleep on the floor. A flashback filled my mind when I remembered the last time I was awake: falling into an ocean of fear, drowning with an electric current running through my veins.

"Jeb," I managed, as my voice came out raspy and low. "Jeb," I said, a little louder, though it was kind of painful to talk. He lifted his head, blinking to wake himself up.

He smiled weakly. "I've been in here for three days, waiting for you to wake up." He stood up. "How are you feeling?"

"My head—is gonna explode," I managed out again. "Why—what happened?"

"One of the scientists there saw you two talking and not moving, crept around us, and threw the shocker right at you. He was fired yesterday, by me," He smiled again.

"Well, thanks for firing him," I wheezed. "But I need two things. 1. Zee 2. Medical attention. I feel like I'm about to puke, pass out, spontaneously combust, and die at the same time." I closed my eyes to ease the pain.

That statement seemed to worry him. He then scooped me up and carried me out of the room. As much as I'd have liked to protest, I just didn't have the energy. After a minute of walking, Jeb brought me into a hospital-like room and laid me down on the bed. Then he started hooking up a bunch of wires and drugs to me. That, I also wanted to protest about, but I was just… too… tired…

Finally, one of the other scientist dudes came in. All I could do was hope that he was a certified doctor. Then I noticed that he'd brought someone with him.

"Oh my god I haven't seen you in days and I thought you were going to die and—" Zee was talking at full speed, like she usually did when she was experiencing overwhelming emotion

"I thought the same to you last week," I squeaked. Then I yelped in pain. It felt like there was a small rodent gnawing at my brain. "No—help," I said in my tiny voice. I was grimacing in pain.

Jeb's voice sounded distant as he said, "What's wrong?!"

As an answer, I said, "Head. Exploded. I. Am. Dying." And it felt that way for a good twenty minutes, as Jeb and the other guy were hooking us wires and medicine to me. Zee, looking hopeless, was collapsed against the wall, crying quietly.

Finally, they rolled me back to the room where they kept Zee and I in the cages, except I got to stay out in my bed. My head was pounding, and Jeb told me I had gotten a severe concussion. Except I'm not sure if he knew I was awake or not. I don't think he did, because a second later, when the 'doctor' had gone, he was comforting Zee and telling her that I was indeed not dying. That seemed to cheer her up a bit… but not a lot. Finally, he decided that her sudden depression was hopeless, and he left.

From then on, I got better. I showed that I was awake, and started talking to Zee. At one point, my head hurt so much, I said, "There has got to be a dinosaur here somewhere."

Zee pretended to examine my head from her cage. "I do not detect any dinosaurs," she said. I groaned, somewhat disappointed. It went on like this for days.

But something odd occurred a week from the day I had fallen from the rock climbing wall: I felt perfectly normal. Nothing hurt. I didn't even have a headache. My concussion was completely gone.

When the scientists found this out, they started up tests again. They knew I was well enough for it, so they continued the physical tests, and moved on to environmental tests that week. For this they could see how we can react to the environment. I didn't get this at all, though. I mean, I know that we react glumly to gyms, and desks, and math, but what of it?

They dragged us outside, into a fenced in yard. I breathed in the fresh air for the first time in… what? Two weeks? A month? It was hard to judge. But anyway, I could see Zee's good reaction. She was actually smiling at something other than me: the sun.

Once we got to the middle of the yard, they had us grow plants. "Aw man," I muttered. "There is a reason that I never joined the garden club." Then one of the scientists told me to shut up. I glared at her, but since there were Erasers everywhere, I grudgingly obeyed.

Zee, the tree hugger, the girl who once screamed to the whole class, "GLOBAL WARMING EXISTS AND YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE FROM IT, YOU TREE-KILLING ASSHOLES!" well, she was enjoying this whole 'you gotta plant a freaking tree' think much more than me. "Usually they die," Zee said to me, "but that's a 'cause I'm too lazy to water them." I suppressed a smile. That was true. In elementary school, they used to give out pine trees to kids every Earth Day. Zee got one every Earth Day. They all died slow, painful, slow deaths. (Note that I said 'slow' twice). Does that give you an image of how much of a green thumb Zee has?

Finally, we'd both planted our saplings. I was about to turn and ask Jeb what the point of that was when something caught my eye. It was Zee's half-dead oak sapling. But the thing is, it wasn't have dead anymore. Just because Zee was staring at it, the plant was becoming more green and fertile.

**Zee**

I felt everybody looking at me. "What?" I frowned, and then actually looked at my tree, because though I'd been staring at it, I'd been spacing out, not actually seeing the plant. "Uh, what the hell…?" It had grown at least five inches, and was not half dead anymore. It was as alive as any person standing in that yard.

Jeb walked over to stand next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Mackenzie, I think you just got your first mutation."

I pulled away from him, my voice trembling. "What—what do you mean?"

One of the other guys pushed Jeb aside. "That doesn't matter. You come with us." He looked pointedly at Jeb. "You should stay out here and watch… the other one." Jeb glared at him. So did Isabella.

As the herd of scientists dragged me away, Isabella started to run after me. Jeb grabbed her shoulder. "Let her go," he said severely.

"But—" She looked on the verge of tears, but Jeb's pointed look made her sit down on the grass and start planting another stupid tree.

As it turns out, she was the lucky one. The scientists took me inside, to an actual lab. I had to sit down on a metal table. One of them started asking me questions, while another took out a bunch of needles and started cleaning them. I just stared at them. The one questioning me didn't seem to notice. "Do you like plants?" she asked. I could only nod. "Do you believe that they are important?"

"Well, obviously. People are causing global warming, and the few spared trees are fixing it." The woman gave me a strange look, but I didn't really have time to evaluate it before there was a needle stabbed into my arm. "OW!" I yelled. And then I yelled, like, five more times, equal to the number of needles in my arm. Finally, it was done.

"Come with me," said another scientist. Reluctantly, I followed him out of the room and down a bunch of halls. Then we came to a familiar room. A labyrinth stood before me. I groaned.

"Don't bother trying to memorize the routs our anything, because it changes every time you complete it," the man informed me. "And, of course, the Erasers will be chasing you. Ten second head start, starting… now!" As the last time, I ran into the maze, taking a turn at random. There were so many ways to go, but then, I guess that made it easier to lose the Erasers. I didn't know how many there were, and I didn't want to find out. After all, Jeb wasn't saving my life this time.

I kept running until I didn't even know which way I'd come from. Once or twice, I heard heavy footsteps racing behind another wall, but they were never too close to me... until I could hear them directly behind me.

I just barely glanced behind me to make sure that it was actually an Eraser, but when I saw a mountain of brown fur, I took off sprinting. I could tell that they were signaling each other, but I didn't have time to worry about that. The Eraser was gaining on me, and no matter where I ran, the thing was following. I was muttering curses under my breath.

A few minutes into my race-to-the-death, I saw a bunch of green atop the walls of the maze. They were vines. A seemingly impossible plan sprouted into my head, but first, I'd have to lose the Eraser. I started running faster.

Unlike me, the Eraser was now out of breath. I heard him stumble to a stop behind me, gasping. I grinned and took a few sharp turns in a few different directions. Then I stopped.

"I can do this," I muttered, staring up at the vines, willing them to grow. It wasn't working. I tried harder. Stupid plants! I only needed, like, two feet to reach. How difficult could it be?

Inch by inch, the vines started growing. Just as I could reach them, I heard feet pounding at the floor, not too far away. I grabbed the vines and hoisted myself up, climbing the wall. I felt as light as air, pulling all my weight. It felt weird, but awesome.

I was just un-growing all the vine when two Erasers rounded the corner. Quickly, I pulled up the last of the vines and stood, sticking my tongue out at them. No matter how high they jumped, they couldn't even touch the top of the wall. Nine feet was just too much for them. They snarled at me, and then started trying to figure out ways to get me down.

Slowly, so I wouldn't lose my balance, I started walking the perimeter of the walls, trying to figure a way out of the maze without touching the ground until I reached the end. Yes, I could see the end. It was about a hundred feet away, confirming the whole labyrinth theory. No regular maze is that big.

I groaned as I realized that I'd have to climb down from the wall before I got to the end. From there, I'd actually have to find a way out, and I could easily get lost. I quickly memorized the rout I'd have to take, and then started walking towards where I'd have to get down.

Truth be told, I was a bit wary of this plan. Now it was easier for the Erasers to spot me. I'd really have to run for the exit. "This would be so much easier if I knew how to fly," I muttered.

I started moving a bit faster, to the point where I was jogging along the ledge. I had to be careful, though. There were still clumps of vines here and there, and the walls were only about as thick as a balance beam. Finally, I came to the place where I had to jump. Except, there was this teensy little issue with my plan: probably all the Erasers that the scientists had set into the maze were converged, just waiting for me. I stared down at them, scowling. "What're you gonna do now, birdie?" one of them jeered. Well, to answer his question, there was only one thing I could do. I attempted to jump the void to the other wall.

It was a five foot leap, and my only chance. Maybe, just maybe, if I'd gotten more strength and speed since I'd gotten to that place, then I could possibly make the jump. And I almost did.

I fell just short of the wall, clawing at the top. Then I plummeted toward the ground. It didn't feel like a cliché slow-motion fall—it was pretty quick. Yet it started to slow down when an Eraser dragged his claws across my calf.

I collapsed to the ground, but sprang up quick enough. Despite the burning, bleeding wound in my leg, I took off running in the direction that I knew lead to the end of the maze.

I heard an Eraser just barely miss the back of my shirt. The footsteps were gaining, but I had nothing to lose. I kept running.

Okay, so left, go straight, right, right, straight, and then right to the exit. By then, I was gasping for breath. Clumsily, I stumbled out of the maze, and then collapsed on the ground. I could've sworn that I only closed my eyes for a second, but then when I opened them, I had a bandage on my leg, and I was propped up against the wall. My eyelids closed yet again. When I opened them again, I was back in my cage.

**I DIDN"T MAKE IT TOO CLIFFY THIS TIME :D**

**REVIEWS PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE**

**-faxforever5678 **


	7. Chapter 7

**HELLO! I am back with another interesting chapter, where the Flock comes into play!**

**YAY!**

**I don't own Maximum Ride**

**BEGIN!**

**Isabella POV**

When Jeb led me back into the room with my cage, Zee was already there. She was sleeping, and had a bandaged leg. "Zee!" I exclaimed. "What happened?!"

She sat bolt upright, hitting her head on the top of her cage. "Ow. What?"

"Your leg," I elaborated.

"Oh, that," she said, as if it were no big deal. "It's kinda fuzzy. Um… I was in the maze, and the Erasers were chasing me, and, uh, I guess one of them clawed open my leg. I don't really remember much of it, actually. But I do know that forgetfulness is a side effect of extreme fatigue and child abuse."

I set my mouth in a thin line. "It's not funny, Zee." She shrugged, and then fell asleep again.

"Jeb?" I looked at him innocently. "Why are we here? Zee got hurt. I got a concussion."

"It's saving the world training camp, kind of," Jeb explained. "You need to be prepared."

"So far, I feel highly unprepared," I said. "And anyway, how are we supposed to save the world if we're stuck in here?"

"You won't be," said Jeb. "You're just not getting out of here very soon. Now get in your cage, Isabella." I did, basically only thinking about the strangeness of that statement: Get in your cage, Isabella. My thoughts were not preoccupied with saving the world.

**Zee POV**

For some reason, I woke up early the next morning, and I could not go back to sleep. I knew that I probably wasn't due at any of the labs for a good amount of hours, so I had no idea why my body demanded that I get up. Usually, I was sleeping up until the moment they came to get me. But I felt something about today… something was going to happen. Whether it would be good or bad, I had no idea, but it filled me with so much anticipation that I had to wake Isabella up.

She wasn't happy with me. "Today feels different," I said, trying to get her on board. "I just know something's going to happen!"

"Whatever. But it could be bad. I for one am going back to sleep," she said dutifully. Just as she leaned back against the bars of her cage, an explosion shook the room. "What the hell…?" she breathed.

All I could do was whisper, "I told you something was going to happen!" I couldn't decide if I was excited or nervous.

Then I heard voices. The strange thing was, they weren't the deep, authoritative voices of adults—they were kids. "Gazzy!" a girl hissed. "What did I tell you about the bombs?" By the sound of it, she was about my age.

"Yeah, I know, keep it under control. But that was cool, right?" asked an overexcited boy. He couldn't have been older than ten.

"Guys," said a little girl. "There are kids in the next room over, and they seem scared, and confused."

"And their thinking is, like, proper English?" asked the older girl. "It's intelligible?"

"Yes. They're 'proper beings'. They're rescuable," the little girl assured her.

"Then let's go." There was the quiet tap of a dozen or so sneakers against the floor. Then the door to our room swung silently open.

There were six kids standing before me. There was the oldest girl, who was blond, and then two boys her age, one with black hair and one who had strawberry blond hair. I think they were all fourteen. Then there was the smaller boy and girl, who looked to be eight and six. They were probably brother and sister—they looked alike, both with blond hair and blue eyes. And then there was another girl, about eleven, with dark skin and black hair. They were all really tall.

"Pardon me for asking," Isabella said politely, "but who are you?"

"I'm Max," said the oldest girl, "and this is the flock. We're here to bust you out."

I eyed them suspiciously. Corresponding with my train of thought, Isabella said, "Okay, but what's the catch?"

This seemed to put a wrench in the conversation. Obviously, Max had already decided that saying that there wasn't a catch was not a good answer. Finally, one of the boys her age, the one with dark hair and olive skin, stepped forward and told us with brutal honesty, "The catch is that depending on how good a fighter you are, you may or may not be able to stay out of here. But that is not your biggest problem right now. Do you want to get out of here or not?" Eagerly, I nodded. Brutal honesty was usually a good sign. Bella nodded, a bit less eager than me.

With that, Max pushed the other older boy, the one with strawberry blond hair, forward. "Iggy, we've got two cages, with two standard padlocks. Can you do it?"

He cracked his knuckles, smiling. "No problem." As he rummaged around in his pocket, he knelt down and felt for my cage. That's when I realized that he must've been blind.

Yet it only took him twenty seconds and a bobby pin to pick the lock on my cage. When he finished, he held open the cage door for me like the gentleman I knew he wasn't. "Oh my god thank you I thought I would never get out of there." The words just rushed out of me; even if I'd tried, I wouldn't have been able to stop them.

He just smiled at me. "No problem," he said, ruffling my hair on his way to Isabella's cage.

Soon, Isabella and I were standing next to each other, a little ways apart from the 'flock'. "Well?" I snapped impatiently. "Let's go!"

The little girl suddenly turned white and tugged at Max's sleeve. "Max, there are Erasers and Jeb coming this way," she whispered stiffly. No sooner had she said that than ten Erasers burst through the door, followed by Jeb.

"Jeb," Max said evenly. She backed up, as did the rest of us. We were tightly wound, preparing for a fight—even me and Isabella.

"Maximum, listen to me," Jeb said, urgency filling his tone. "These two girls cannot leave."

I balled my fists, stepping forward among the rest of them. "You can't dictate my life! I'll do what I want, and there's no reason I should listen to you!" I yelled.

He winced, but then explained patiently, "There is a perfectly good reason you should stay here, Mackenzie, Isabella. You can't save the world without any training—"

Max was now angry, too. She appeared next to me. "I thought I was supposed to save the world!" she yelled. Now I was confused. She was supposed to save the world, and Isabella and I weren't? Now I just couldn't tell who was lying.

"You were never supposed to." Jeb seemed very calm, as if he'd rehearsed this conversation in his head millions of times. "Mackenzie and Isabella are newer. They have better test scores. They have nobody who cares about them." I was about to protest, but then I realized that it was true. "You, Maximum, were just a decoy."

Max clenched her fists, but feigned dispassion. "So what you're saying is that you were willing to use your own daughter as a decoy?! That is just a whole new level of sad, Jeb." Max was Jeb's daughter? Well, she definitely didn't seem to have an allegiance to him, which was good. It seemed like everyone else in the room hated him. Plus, Max was already starting to grow on me. It would be a shame for her to be a traitorous jerk.

There was a silence. Jeb looked a bit pained. I could tell that we probably weren't getting all the information here, but who's to say I cared?

Finally, the small blond boy, Gazzy, spoke. "I'll tell you what, Jeb. Those Erasers are probably going to be set on us any minute anyway, so let's make it a gamble: if you win, they'll stay. If we win, we'll take them and drop a bomb on this place. Does that sound fair?"

Isabella grabbed Gazzy by the shoulder. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

He shrugged and whispered back, "Well, it would've gone that way, anyway."

"Gazzy, I really don't want to do this. Just let them go," Jeb sighed, as if they were the ones actually kidnapping us.

"No thanks. I CHOOSE FREEDOM!" Isabella yelled.

Jeb looked plainly sad now. "Then I have no choice." All he did was snap his fingers and step into the hall, and the Erasers attacked.

Immediately, the one who had tried to choke me a week or two ago lunged for my throat. This time, I felt prepared. I mean, I was thisfreakingclose to escaping. I couldn't very well die and ruin everything.

I broke his grip on my neck by punching my way through his arm. Then I smashed my elbow into the side of his face. He stumbled back against the wall. While he was dazed, I took a running start, and then kicked him in the chest. The dark haired boy also ran up and punched him in the face. The Eraser never stood a chance. He collapsed, unconscious, against the wall.

Looking around, I realized that all of the Erasers were now that way, in less than thirty seconds. Either that or they were dead. We didn't stick around long enough to find out. Isabella and I burst through the door, the flock at our heels. But then they passed us, and then Isabella passed me, so I was behind all of them.

I'd barely gone three yards when somebody grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. It was Jeb. He gripped both of my shoulders now, staring intensely into my eyes. "Mackenzie. You. Can't. Leave. I forbid you."

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that everyone else had already disappeared into the room where I'd heard the explosion. I tried to pull away from Jeb, but found that it was impossible. Jeb's hands were as strong as a bear trap. "Let me go!" I screamed, thrashing around. "I'm NOT staying!" I tried hard to avoid his gaze, because it actually kind of scared me.

Jeb noticed this. "Mackenzie. Mackenzie. Look at me." When I didn't do as he said, he took my chin in his hand and forced me to meet his eyes. "Mackenzie, you cannot leave. It is far too crucial that you stay here. Do you understand?"

I tore my eyes away. "No. I am not staying in this hellhole. I absolutely refuse to stay here!"

He just shook his head, disgusted. "The insolence of children. You're only thinking of yourself. What about the fate of the world?"

I was suddenly infuriated. "If I'm such an insolent child, why don't you just save the world yourself?" I yelled.

"You're leaving me with no options," said Jeb. "I'm sorry, Mackenzie, but this is your fault." Then he started dragging me back down the hallway, towards the room where I'd spent almost a month in a cage.

"No!" I screamed. "You can't do this!" Tears started running down my cheeks. I kicked and screamed but no matter what, Jeb obviously was not letting go until I was back in my cage. But no matter what, I was not going to stop fighting. I did not accept the fact that I probably wasn't getting out. Not. At. All.

* * *

**CLIFFY!**

**Hope you all don't hate me for this. But...**

**If I get 2 more reviews I'll post in the next few days! :D**

**REWIEWS!**


	8. Chapter 8

**DON'T WORRY I'M NOT DEAD!**

**I'm sooo sorry I haven't updated in FOREVER! **

**To make up for that, I am giving you a slightly longer chapter. YAY! :D**

**R&R!**

**Isabella POV**

I glanced back, and stopped dead in my tracks. "Where's Zee?" I demanded. "She was right behind me…" I was trying to figure out how long ago that was, but then I realized that I hadn't even seen her come out of the blasted hole in the wall.

"Your friend?" asked Max. She and the rest of the flock had stopped along with me. Max sighed regretfully. "Isabella, we don't have time. We'll have to leave her behind."

"No," I said stubbornly. "We're not leaving her!"

"Then we're leaving both of you!" Max snapped impatiently. I could tell that she was anxious to get out of there. Well, that was too bad, because I was not leaving without my best friend.

"I'm going back with her," Iggy announced.

Both Max and I seemed to be taken aback, but I didn't have time to dwell on it, because Iggy was already starting to run back.

Soon I was sprinting alongside the blind guy, as he expertly dodged trees. "Do you think they're leaving without us?" I asked.

"Nah," Iggy replied. "They wouldn't leave the blind guy. Especially not here."

With the pace that we were going at, it took maybe a minute to get back to where we started. I leapt through the steaming, blackened hole in the wall and raced into the hallway, where I found Jeb dragging Zee back to the room with the cages.

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!" I screamed, barreling down the hall. I rammed into Jeb at full speed with my shoulder, sending him, Zee and I tumbling down the hall. Zee quickly separated herself from us, landing on her butt in the middle of the hall.

I scrambled to get away from Jeb, and succeeded. I even ended up stepping on his face, which I greatly enjoyed. Then I helped Zee up, and we started running. Iggy joined us. I started hearing running and yelling on the floor above us, but if we rushed, we probably wouldn't run into anyone.

For the first time, I saw Zee's tear-streaked face. "Zee, what happened?" I asked.

She sniffled. "It was scary. I thought… I thought I wasn't gonna get out. Jeb wouldn't let me go."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, now we're out. I for one am happy about it."

Iggy smiled too. "And I for one am happy that we went back for you, even though I didn't do much except get the rest of the flock to wait."

She laughed. Then she looked up and realized that the moon was still in the sky. "Wow, it's still dark out. What time is it?"

Iggy felt his Braille watch. "It's about four thirty AM."

Zee looked extremely ticked off. "I woke up at four AM this morning?! Wow I hate myself right now!"

We were all laughing then. Just leave it to Zee to make everyone laugh while we're running for our lives. Finally Iggy said, "So as far as Max told me, we hijacked a white van and parked it on the side of an isolated road. It shouldn't be too far now."

"I see it!" I said. Through the darkness, there was a van with all the lights on in the middle of the country road. From the back, Max opened up the doors and let us in.

"—and I can't believe you made me stay in here with Total the entire time!" the driver was saying. He, too, looked about fourteen, but I wasn't complaining—just hoping that he knew what he was doing.

"Dylan, we needed someone to drive the escape car," the dark haired boy explained. By the way he said that, it must've been the twelfth time.

"We've got everyone," said Max. "Drive!"

"Who's Total?" I asked.

"He's our dog," said the little girl. "Well, actually, he's mine, but—"

A little black Scottie leaped up from the front seat, trotting over into the back. "I cannot believe you just said that, Angel!" he exclaimed. I just stared. "I mean, am I just a dog to you, or am I something more?" he continued. "I can talk. I have wings. I have contributed so much to this flock—"

Iggy started laughing. "Total, she didn't mean it." Total snorted, but then he curled up on the floor beside Angel, so we knew that all was forgiven.

Nobody spoke for a while. The roar of the old engine made all the noise, coughing and sputtering. Then, about twenty minutes later, it gave out.

"Crap," Dylan muttered. "The thing ran out of gas."

The dark-haired boy snorted. "We've all been waiting for that." Dylan glared at him, and he glared back.

"Okay, everybody out," said Max. We all hopped out of the van at her command. Max sighed. "Besides," she added, "we've got some things to talk about."

Once we were out and walking, Angel started talking to Max quietly. "Do you really think so? 'Cause I don't think they're bad. They don't have bad vibes."

"We really can't afford it, though," Max whispered back.

"But—"

I cut her off. "Please refrain from talking about us like we're not here. Look, if you don't want us to stay, fine. It's your decision."

Max looked almost relieved. "Yeah, sorry. It's just… for various reasons, we cannot have you travel with us."

Zee shrugged. "That's okay. We'll probably do fine on our own. Nice knowing you." I could tell that she was pissed off on the inside though, because she walked away pretty quickly. I followed her.

"What do we do now?" I asked. "I mean, we couldn't go home. My mom would turn us in to the FBI."

"Yeah," Zee huffed, "and social security would probably get to me. We wouldn't be able to stay hidden forever."

I thought for a moment. "You know, I think we should just illegally cross the Canadian border. It would be easier to learn to fly first, but—"

I was quickly interrupted. The black-haired girl from the flock burst into the clearing where we'd been walking. "Hello. I'm Nudge. Excuse me for interrupting, but did you just say 'fly'? As in, you have, like, wings?" she burst out.

Zee looked at her, deciding if she could trust her, and then said, "Yeah, actually, we do have wings. But we don't know how to use them."

"Come with me," said Nudge. Without even waiting for us, she sprinted back towards the flock. Shrugging, I followed her, and so did Zee.

"Guys!" yelled Nudge. "THEY HAVE WINGS!"

Dylan looked at us skeptically. "Oh yeah? Let's see 'em."

"Okay," I said. Ripping two holes in the back of my shirt, I unleashed my wings—ten feet of silver awesomeness that glittered in the moonlight. Zee unfolded hers, grinning broadly. "Yeah, so, we have wings," I continued. "What of it?"

Then, seven kids and their dog unfolded their wings, too. Theirs were much more neutral colors, though: shades of brown, grey, white, and black.

Soon, we were all just staring at each other. Finally, Max smiled and said, "Well, one of my main worries was transportation, which is our wings. But since you both seem to have a pair… welcome to the flock."

"Yeah, but the thing is, we've got no idea how to even use them," said Zee.

Dylan grinned mischievously. "Don't worry—we've got that covered."

**Zee POV**

"This is amazing," I breathed.

The dark-haired boy, Fang, as he said his name was, half smiled at me. "It really is." We were all standing atop a large red cliff, watching hawks circle around the place. Fang says that they'd been there before, and just watching the hawks was a really good way to learn how to fly.

"I don't see why we're not pushing them off the cliff," Dylan grumbled. "That's how Max taught me how to fly."

"Yeah, but again, Dylan: I kind of resented you. I don't resent them," Max pointed out. "Therefore, I am not going to push them off anything." I smiled sweetly at Dylan. He looked mad. He was so mad, in fact, that he ran at me and pushed me off the cliff.

My epic blue wings had already been unfolded, so it was easy to remember to flap. I sort of failed, though, so I ended up just kind of falling awkwardly to the ground. Surprisingly, when I stood up, I was completely unscathed. "Dylan!" I yelled. "I will get you!"

He was swooping and diving up above. "Yeah," he called. "Good luck with that!"

I was mostly ticked off that I had to climb back up the cliff. When I finally did, everybody but Isabella was up in the air, just enjoying flying. I flapped my wings a bit, just for practice. "Isabella, I am determined to get up in the air," I said. "Did you see how they did it?"

"Yeah," Isabella said uncertainly. She probably thought I would end up killing myself. "Um, they all took a running start, and then started flapping their wings. It looks simple enough, but…" Her voice trailed off.

I laughed. "Don't worry about me. I'll be perfectly fine." I was already backing up to the edge of the cave on the cliff. My wings brushed either end of the entrance. Then I started running toward the edge. My bare foot sprung me from the ledge, giving me a boost.

The wind rushed past my face. I realized that I was not falling. "OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!" I yelled, startling a bunch of hawks. They squawked angrily at me, as if to say, 'Hey! Watch it, filthy human!'

I started laughing. Now I knew what the best feeling in the world was: flying. "Okay Isabella!" I called. "Now it's your turn!"

**Isabella POV**

I looked skeptically below as Zee was swooping down and back up again. I don't think I'd ever been so unsure about something in my life. I mean, if I didn't completely fail, then I would be up in the sky with Zee. If I did, though, I would probably bash my head open and die on the ground about a hundred feet below me.

But, I'm the kind of person you would say was, 'living life on the edge'. So I jogged backwards to where Zee had started running. I stood in the cave entrance, and with my dark clothes I looked like a freaking ninja—a soon-to-be-flying ninja.

The others gathered while I began my running, which as you know I am plenty good at. It took me less than two seconds to run those twenty feet from the cave entrance to the cliff side. Maybe, because I do that 'mutation' of being super-fast, it could be enough to help me get the head start I needed, and maybe even fly fast too.

These thoughts all jumbled in my head, giving me the adrenaline I needed to do this, and look cool at it. As my toe touched the last step I needed to jump off the cliff, I pumped my wings as hard as I could with a downward streak and an upward. And I began to fly.

But not just fly—I flew fast, just like I predicted. I grinned at my success and yelled, "YEAH!" I think I had reached about 250 MPH before I turned around to fly straight backwards. Zee and Gazzy both had their mouths wide open when I came in for soft, perfect landing on the edge of the cliff.

"You guys should close your mouths. I've seen a bunch of bugs flying around here…" I teased

"That was AMAZING!" they both said at the same time. Zee had a twinge of jealously in her voice. I knew that there was plenty rivalry to come. I also knew that she was thinking of ways to get back at me.

Max came over to me and said, "Where'd you learn to fly like that?"

"I didn't. It just came naturally, like running does." I shrugged and went to the cave wall to lean against it. I wasn't the least bit tired.

Max walked behind me and said, "Well then you probably have one of my mutations. And you're pretty dang good with it." She smiled, and I grinned back.

"Better then you?" I added a sly smile.

"Is this a challenge, my new friend?" She grinned back at me.

"You bet it is." I motioned to a race.

Zee quietly came over to me and whispered, "Are you sure about this?" Determined to win, I nodded.

Fang agreed to be the ref. We started the race just at the edge of the cave. I put my hair up in the secret hair tie I've been keeping. We marked our places, and began the countdown: 3, 2, 1—and my race had begun.

Flying was way easier the second time then the first, and no wonder Jeb said we had better test scores than them. I was gaining speed rapidly, and passed Max in a flash. Her face was stunned, and mine was held in a tight grin. Now was my time to be awesome.

I maintained my 300mph speed, and I passed Max still making her way toward the church where we marked the halfway point. She looked a little worn out but I don't think something like that would stop her. As we passed, inches apart we simultaneously whispered, "Good going."

The rest of the race consisted of four second flying back to the cliff, where Max came in a few minutes later. I was standing in the cave with my back against the wall again, where I kept my cool. I wasn't the slightest bit tired. I was just really, really hungry.

Max on the other hand, was panting like a dog. "Where is she?" She looked at the others. All of them shrugged as I didn't say anything. I was right here! Was Max, like, delusional from exhaustion or something?

"She's right there," Fang said and pointed to me in the cave. Max still kept her confused face on.

"What?! Where?" She ran in as I finally stepped forward. I guess it was the dark clothes, and the silver wings.

"I'm right here, jeez guys." I rolled my eyes at them. "Fang was the only one who noticed, huh?"

He looked back at me, "They make the same mistake with me," and grinned, the first time I've ever seen him with somewhat of a smile on his face. "We've got the same mutation, I guess." I walked out of the cave and gave him a fist bump. Well, at least one of them liked me so far.

**HAHA! We have some Dyan in here! Don't worry he's not evil :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**HELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY (probably really angry) PEOPLE!**

**I AM SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LOVE MY STORY!**

**I really won't be able to update much, but I'll try my best!**

**To make up for my like 2 month absence, I gave you all an extra long story :3**

**I DO NOT OWN ANY MAXIMUM RIDE CHARACTERS!**

**Chapter 9: Zee**

Okay, so Isabella has a pretty awesome and useful power, huh? Well, I'm generally not the jealous type, but still. Now she had ten years' worth of bragging rights. Oh well. If I got annoyed, I'd figure out a way to strangle her with vines, or use some other mutation that I'd get—definitely. Having powers was so useful for revenge.

Max decided it was time for us to get moving, because they were planning on finding a place to build a house. Isabella complained that she was starving from all the flying. The response was, "Deal with it!" from none other than Max.

We headed east, and flew until we were all starving (Isabella more than the rest of us) and the sun was already above the horizon. The flock was telling us about everything, including how they used to be in The School too. They call it 'The School' for some reason Isabella and I classify as unknown.

We swooped down to the nearest town, and pulled our wings tightly to our backs.

"Uh, Max? Because the shirts have rips in them, you can kind of see my wings." I showed her my back.

Yeah, me too," Isabella agreed from a short distance.

"We'll go to a department store, and you guys can get jackets," she said, shrugging.

"Wait, you have money?" I put on my confused face.

She stuck out a credit card and said, "Magic credit card."

We walked the sidewalk and found a newspaper stand. We were in some town in Georgia. Max tried to pronounce the town name, but she pronounced it so terribly that all of us just laughed. It was, I think, something like, 'Kifcardio'. It was a small, lightly populated town. We figured that if we walked far enough, sometime we'd come to a department store.

I much would've rather preferred flying there, but Max said it was too risky for people to see us. "CAN WE RUN THERE?!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Well, I don't see a problem with a workout, so okay," Max said.

"Oh, no Max, you shouldn't have said that," I said.

"It's just running." She looked back at me.

"Running is—you know what? You'll find out soon enough." I put on a stupid, fake-mysterious face and walked over to Isabella.

"I know I'm not as fast as you are, but we are faster than them. Let's show em' our stuff." I grinned and stood in a running position. "Okay, people let's make this quick." I nodded to Isabella to act normal at first, and then took off running.

We jogged like the others, and after a minute, began to run… faster, and faster, just until us both reached our capacity. Isabella was way ahead of me, and I was way ahead of the flock. I kept my eyes peeled for a department store, as I'm sure Isabella was too.

This was nothing of a race, just a show-off. It was funny though to look back at the flock's surprised faces. At one time I heard Max yell, "Get back here!" Cackling, I just ran faster.

We'd finally reached the department store, and, like always, Isabella was sitting on a bench outside, relaxed. "There you guys are. I've been waiting for like five minutes."

This store was pretty much like any department store: clothes, scarves, and boy stuff too. The flock scattered, but Isabella and I stuck together. "What kind of jacket you looking for?" I asked her.

"I'm looking for a cool jacket, probably black," she responded, and started flipping through a rack of sweatshirts.

"Whoa, do we have an emo girl here?"

She punched my arm lightly. "No, it's not emo. It's just cool," she responded, chuckling.

I laughed, too. "Yeah, I know. I was thinking the same thing."

It took me almost no time to find my jacket. It was dark grey and baggy, but then again, it was very comfortable. I also picked out a simple pair of blue jeans.

Isabella found her jacket, too. It was a black sweatshirt with grey swirls. She also grabbed a pair of skinny jeans, which was a decision Max totally resented. "You can't fight in skinny jeans, Isabella!" she fumed.

I quickly jumped in, "We do karate in skinny jeans, girl. I think we can handle it." Max nodded grudgingly and went to the front counter with our clothes.

"Hey, can I put these on in the changing rooms?" Isabella asked the clerk. They dull lady nodded after she scanned them. She ran to the back, with her jeans and jacket. I did, too, and we went into separate changing rooms.

We came back thirty seconds later, looking totally awesome. "Nice," I complimented her.

"Touché," she answered. I still think she looked totally emo, though. I think I looked totally emo too. Then again, I had a pixie cut, so it made me look all edgy and stuff. Now we kind of matched with Fang. This gave me an idea…

I elbowed Fang in the ribs. "We're all emo!" I shouted. A lot of people on the street stared at me.

"Oh man," Fang groaned. "Not the emo thing again." But even he had to laugh.

By eight o'clock, we were back at the cliff. "Okay, I need the truth," I said. "This is all screwed up, and it's confusing me."

Max looked thoughtful. "Huh, I never really thought of it as confusing. Screwed up, yes. Confusing… well, we've had a head start. What do you want to know?"

Isabella piped up with her questions before I could. "What exactly are we? I mean, we have wings, so what does that make us?"

"Besides mutant freaks?" Dylan snorted. I punched him in the arm.

"We're bird kids," said Gazzy. "AKA: Avian-American."

I took off my new jacket and spread my wings against the walls of the cave. Was I really part bird? That was awesome and scary. I mean, it's like, 'I'M A BIRD! I CAN SOAAAAAAAAAAR THROUGH THE SKYYYYYYYYYYYYY!' And then there's also the fact of people treating me like a zoo animal. It's like, 'No ma'am, I'm not a zoo animal, I'm a Zee animal. There's a difference.'

"Oh, and just a fair warning, we've all got powers," said Nudge. "'Cause I'm a human magnet, and Iggy can feel colors and stuff. The Gasman, well, his name says it all—he has a funky digestive system. Also, he can mimic voices. Um, Fang can turn invisible, and Max can fly really fast. Oh, and all of us can breathe underwater. Angel is pretty special, though, because she can, like, read minds and shift between two forms, and maybe more. Dylan has really good sight and stuff, and Total has wings and can talk, obviously."

"Damn right," Total muttered.

"Also, I have a Voice," Max said.

"Oh, right, you can't forget the Voice," said Angel. Just the way they said it made me feel like the V had to be capitalized. It was like they were talking about a person.

"What's the Voice?" asked Isabella.

Max scratched the back of her head. "Well… how can I explain it without sounding psychotic?" She sighed irritably. "Well, the Voice is a, um, voice in my head that's sort of been helping me with this saving the world gig. When it was my mission, anyway."

"And you're sure that the Voice isn't just you talking to yourself?" Isabella asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said. "I hate to admit it, but the Voice has actually helped us a bit. Speaking of which… I haven't heard the Voice for, like, a week. I wonder what happened."

I started to get a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The Voice had helped Max on her (fake) quest to save the world. But now Isabella and I had to save the world. So would that mean…?

Suddenly, my brain basically exploded. It felt kind of how Isabella described her concussion. I doubled over, clutching my head, while Isabella muttered, "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shittttttt!"

Then I heard a voice in my head. It wasn't young or old; male or female; it was just an existence. Hello Zee, it said. It didn't sound creepy, or monotone or really anything. I couldn't tell what it was. Your sole purpose in life now is to save the world. Are you up for it?

**Isabella**

I looked at Zee. "Did you hear that, too?" I asked uncertainly. She nodded, paler than usual.

Max looked pretty ashen-faced, too. She stared at the wall of the cave, looking horror-stricken. "What's wrong?" Fang demanded.

Slowly, Max focused on his face and cleared her throat. "The Voice just spoke to me. It said, 'Goodbye, Max. The world doesn't need you anymore.'" Instantly, all of our heads swung to face the entrance of the cave, as if Erasers would come pouring in and assassinate Max. I didn't doubt that they would.

"So we have the Voice now?" I whispered hoarsely. The rest of the flock nodded gravely.

Then, Max started to laugh. "Finally, that thing is out of my head! No offense, but—"

Zee, ever the sensitive one, stood up angrily, shaking off her headache. "I cannot believe you have the nerve to be laughing when my brains just blew up! I'm outta here!" She ran out onto the edge of the cliff and jumped, snapping out her wings. In an instant, she was over the treetops and gone.

I shrugged off my jacket. "I'd better go after her." But as I ran off the cliff, the whole flock was following me, backpacks in hand.

I landed where I heard rustling in the trees and small grunts of pain. Zee was just sitting up against a pine tree, wings unfolded to their limits. Her knuckles were bleeding. "Ow," she muttered, sounding more annoyed than hurt.

I rushed over to her. "Don't you ever do that again 'cause if you end up dead I'll bring you back to life just to murder you," I growled.

She laughed. "Sorry. I just wasn't thinking, I guess. 'Cause, see, my brains just splattered against a few of those trees. You can't see them, because they're invisible, but they're there."

Nudge looked at me worriedly and whispered, "Are you sure she didn't just go insane?"

I shrugged. "She's always like that. You just have to get to know us."

Fang raised his eyebrows. "So you're both certifiably insane?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Yes. But we're lovable, too." I then gave him my creepiest, horror movie little girl serial killer look.

"You look demented," he said calmly. Zee just cracked up. She was laughing so long that at some point during it, I fell asleep.

Chapter 23: Zee

Iggy was on watch, and everybody else was asleep. The thing is, though, I couldn't sleep. My head was killing me, and thoughts of revenge were clouding my head. Finally I decided that it was time to make things interesting.

"Hey Iggy?" I whispered. "Do you by any chance have a permanent marker and some shaving cream?"

He answered without hesitation. "Yes. But what do you need it for?"

I grinned evilly. "Let's just say that there's a certain guy who pushed me off a cliff today, and needs to be taught a lesson."

Iggy sighed. "You know, Dylan isn't usually such a jerk. He's just fed up with everything."

"Really? I would've just thought that because he looks like a male model, he thinks he can do whatever he wants."

"That's what he told me. So I said, 'Dude, there is no excuse for you being such an asshole lately'. And you know what he told me? He said, 'I'm a damn supermodel! I can do whatever I freaking want!'" I laughed. Iggy paused. "So what were you planning on doing to Dylan, anyway?"

I answered without hesitation. "I was going to draw a moustache, huge eyebrows and a goatee on his face, and then I was going to fill his jacket with shaving cream. I wasn't gonna hurt him—just tick him off and inconvenience him."

He nodded. "Smart. That way, there's really no reason for him to beat you up."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's see him try to beat me up."

Iggy laughed. He felt around in his backpack for a moment, and came up with a huge bottle of shaving cream and a black Sharpie. He threw the marker to me. "Let's get to work."

While Iggy set to work putting shaving cream in the sleeves of Dylan's sweatshirt—which he'd left lying on the ground—I leaned over him and started drawing on these huge, rectangular, cartoonish eyebrows.

I smiled to myself. This was really fun. I'd never actually pranked anyone before. There was nobody to prank. It would be heartless of me to have pulled a practical joke on Auntie, and if I'd ever done something to Isabella, I'd be dead. And, you know, I didn't have any other friends, nor did I have many opportunities to do something horrible to my crap load of enemies.

I must have pushed too hard on the marker when I was starting the moustache, because Dylan's eyes popped open instantly. Then he saw the marker. "ZEE I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!" he screamed.

Cackling maniacally, I scrambled to my feet. "Iggy! We've been caught!" Without even probably thinking, he dropped the can, unfolded his wings and took to the sky. I followed him way too quickly for Dylan to immediately catch up.

"That was awesome," I breathed. "It's even funnier that we got caught in the middle of it."

"Yeah, well, I still would've preferred to finish filling up his jacket before—" Iggy suddenly stopped. Then he started swearing. "I hear Erasers—flying ones."

"Flying—?" I stopped. It wasn't my biggest problem now to question that they could fly. "We have to go warn the others before—" But it was too late, because then, they were hovering above us, grinning evilly.

"Shit," I muttered. Then I took Iggy's hand, turned, and started flying full speed back toward camp.

"We can't out fly them, you know," Iggy yelled in the wind.

"Yeah, but I sure as hell can try!" I clenched my teeth. Yes, I knew that it was hopeless, but what else could I do but give up? The best thing I could do at the moment was get back to the rest of the flock.

Soon enough, we were hovering over the clearing, but it seemed as though they were already having issues: there were wingless Erasers already attacking them.

I swooped down lower and said to Angel, who was unoccupied at the moment, "There are flying Erasers coming in. Think you could tell the others?" By 'tell', I meant project a thought into their heads. I knew it worked when, simultaneously, they all glanced at the sky, then resumed their fights.

I shot back up into the sky, only to find that the Erasers were hovering about twenty feet away from me. Thankfully, the flock had finished their fights on the ground, and came up to join me. With them, I felt a bit more certain that I was not going to die.

One of the Erasers came forward. He seemed a bit more… important, somehow. It wasn't that he was bigger or anything. Maybe it was just the way that the other Erasers responded, like they knew he was in charge—the alpha. It sort of gave me the creeps. I could tell that it bothered the others too, although I didn't think for the same reason.

"Hello, Max," he said, baring his gigantic fangs. She flinched.

"Ari," she whispered. "You're supposed to be dead."

* * *

"What?" I asked numbly.

"He died months ago," said Max, just as numb. "I saw him. We all saw him."

Ari cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, well, they keep coming up with new ways for me to live again."

"What do you want this time?" asked Angel. "I can tell you want something."

Ari popped his neck. "Yeah, smart kid. Here's the deal: I've got a request from Jeb." I snorted. Jeb was getting desperate. "He wants the two new freaks back at the School. But he's got sort of a bribe for you: if you come back, he'll tell you who your parents are."

"My parents are dead," Zee said matter-of-factly, voice somewhat shaky. "Use the past tense for the dead."

"Yeah," I chimed in. "And I hate to break it to you, but I know who my parents are."

He just laughed. "Then your lives have been built on lies." He pointed at me. "Your 'parents' aren't actually even related to you, and your parents aren't dead. Now I suppose you want the information."

I thought for a moment. Okay, so my parents weren't my parents. Actually, that explained a lot. Now I was sort of curious. But before I could make my decision, Zee made it for us. "Well then, our parents must be the biggest douchebags ever. I've been living with an alcoholic, and Isabella's been living with control freaks. Damn our real parents. I don't give a crap." She smiled proudly. "Tell that to Jeb."

Ari growled and swiped at her, but she was already above him, and slamming down her feet on his head. She kept at him, steadily doing offense and defense, but the rest of us moved on to the other Erasers. Even Angel and Total were kicking butt. Honestly, I don't think it could've gone better.

I used my epic fighting skills to beat them down. The fight was about fifteen Erasers to eight bird kids, yet it seemed totally fair. We all had our battle scars, and our bleeding, but that was fine. Nobody seemed to notice.

The last one left was Ari. "Max, I don't care about finding who my parents are. Just kill him," I growled. I glanced at Zee for assurance that this was the right thing to say. She completely agreed.

"Alright, let's get rid of this kid once and for all." Max has us surround Ari. I could see worry in his eyes, but from the outside you couldn't tell.

Max came in first from behind, and kicked his lower back while Fang punched him right in the chest. I really wanted to get into it, so I followed the others as we all just basically beat him up. He threw a punch at Nudge, and she staggered backwards. Clearly not affected, she came right back in.

Ari flew straight up, catching the rest of the flock by surprise. But not me. I pumped my wings hard, easily catching up to him. I slammed into his side, and he whimpered in pain. Then, with the last of the energy Ari had, he put both fists together and smashed them into the back of my skull.

It felt like my brain had irrupted like a volcano of blood. I screamed and clutched the back of my head, curling up into a ball. My wings stopped pumping and I fell down to the rocky earth, fifty feet below me. Before I could hit the ground, though, I sunk into unconsciousness.


End file.
